Disk capacity continues to increase at a phenomenal rate. At the same time, however, managing the disk space, especially for disks that may be used by more than one user (e.g., shares), is becoming more troublesome. Even though disk capacity has increased greatly, it is still finite and may be consumed prematurely or by a small number of users if mismanaged. Thus, administrators and the like are left with the task of determining how to assign and enforce disk quotas.
Currently, Linux-based quota solutions allow for quotas to be set and enforced at the user level. How much disk space each user is allowed to consume and what to do if a user attempts to exceed the user's disk space is determined in advance by these user-based quotas.
However, there is currently no means for setting and enforcing quotas on shares in Linux-based systems. Setting quotas on shares is desirable because it prevents users from filling the disk capacity and tracks disk capacity needs for future planning. As used herein, the term “share” is synonymous with a shared folder or shared files. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for setting and enforcing quotas on Linux-based file server shares.